


And The Clock Struck Twelve

by artemisscribe



Series: An Inadvisable Romance [1]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Bittersweet, F/M, Light Angst, Romance, Sexual Tension, Things Unsaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-05-19 23:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14883662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemisscribe/pseuds/artemisscribe
Summary: Lady Penelope knows that a relationship with Jeff Tracy is a recipe for disaster and yet she can't seem to resist him





	1. Chapter 1

It had been an excellent party.

 

But all good things must end, as Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Scott Tracy become the last couple on the dancefloor, swaying to slow music and good naturedly flirting with each other.

 

“Come on Lady P, just come up for a nightcap” he grins, “I’ll make it worth your while.”

 

“You’re incorrigible,” Penny scolds gently, before smiling over his shoulder“And about to have your advances curtailed.”

 

Jeff cuts in with all the grace of a man who considers dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room his birthright, giving his son two smart taps on the shoulder before effortlessly sweeping Penelope into a dancer’s hold. She doesn’t even have to break her step, she’s quietly impressed.

 

“Hey!” Scott says, though there’s no malice in his protest.

 

“Let an old man have the last dance,” Jeff says, “Go take your brother to bed.”

 

It’s a vague order considering the abundance of brothers Scott has, but the sibling in question is obviously the youngest. The evening has proved a little too much excitement for Alan who has fallen asleep at one of the tables, head resting on folded arms.

 

Penny watches Scott and Virgil gently chide their youngest brother into leaving the ballroom with them before she turns her full attention back to their father.

 

“Your son is insolent.”

 

“He gets it from his father” Jeff jokes.

 

Penny smiles, lets herself settle into the intimacy of the moment. She’s used to intensity from Jeff, but his gaze is soft as he smiles back, fond, familiar.

 

“I’m sure you’re a perfect gentleman” she says.

 

“Certainly gentlemanly enough to escort you back to your hotel” he offers. It’s a harmless enough proposal but she knows the double meaning in his tone.

 

“Jeff,” she warns softly.

 

“One night,” he says, the same old argument he uses every time. “Please? I don’t want to be alone Pen.”

 

They play this game every time; his delicate proposition, her careful warning, his gentle plea. It’s a ritual by now, as choreographed as a dance and Penelope knows where the steps are taking her. It’s a foregone conclusion, after all she’s dismissed Parker for the evening.

 

“Well if you insist” she says.

 

He smiles and kisses her hand, his eyes full of promise,

 

“Oh I absolutely do.”

 

There’ll be time for regrets in the early hours, when she pretends to sleep while he skulks from her bed. 

 

But for now there’s still enough of the evening’s magic to make them think this is a good idea. 

 

Again.


	2. The Space Between Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff feels conflicted about his relationship with Penny.

Jeff’s not sure what’s keeping him awake. He ate a delicious dinner, drank a liberal amount of fine wine, spent the night making love to a beautiful woman. By rights he should be snoring happily, smug in the knowledge that thousands of men would kill to be in his place right now, not staring at the bare back of the woman sleeping beside him. 

 

He has the urge to reach out, to wake her, but he resists. There’s a space between them larger than the four inches of mattress that separate their bodies and he doesn’t know how she will react to his feelings right now. 

 

He rules out waking her. It won’t satisfy the sense of loneliness he’s feeling. He’s actually pretty sure that he’ll feel even more lonely. There’s no hope for resolving his emotional isolation so he settles for fixing his physical isolation, gently shifting closer to curl up against her back and bury his nose in her hair. 

 

It’s comforting and familiar to have a woman in his arms. To be surrounded by the scent of perfume and expensive shampoo. To run his hands over soft skin. Except that this is unfamiliar softness. Clear in his mind is the image of a stomach peppered with stretchmarks and cupped by a fine c-section scar. What his hand comes to rest on here is smooth and unblemished skin. Where he wants a soft paunch instead he finds firm abs. 

 

He knows it’s wrong to want another woman when you have one in your bed but Jeff’s never been able to shake the feeling that he’s being unfaithful in the several months that this affair has been carrying on. He may have been widowed for nearly a decade now, yet the fact remains; his heart belongs to Lucy, even when it’s Lady Penelope asleep in his arms.

 

Of course Penny isn’t stupid. He knows she knows there’s a conflict raging within him. He often wonders how long she’ll put up with sharing him with a ghost. Because even while each encounter feels semi-adulterous to Jeff he doesn’t want to stop. Not yet. But when he wakes in the morning to an empty bed, he can’t say that he’s not just a little bit relieved. 

 

He tries to ignore what a terrible person that makes him. 

 

At least until after coffee.

**Author's Note:**

> So I've always loved this ship since the original series and I'm hoping that there's an audience for it because I want to explore their relationship in future fic and it'd be great if other people are into that too.


End file.
